Barry Morphew pleads not guilty again in his wife Suzanne’s death

Barry Morphew, the husband of Suzanne Morphew, pleaded not guilty to murder for the second time in a Colorado court hearing in Alamosa, according to the Associated Press.

Morphew entered the plea during a short hearing through one of his attorneys, David Beller, AP reported. It was the second time he pleaded not guilty in connection with Suzanne Morphew’s death.

AP said Morphew was first arrested in 2021, almost a year after Suzanne Morphew’s disappearance, and was charged with murder and tampering with evidence. The case was later abandoned in 2022 as it neared trial, after a judge barred prosecutors from calling key witnesses following repeated failures to follow rules for turning evidence over to the defense.

Suzanne Morphew’s skeletal remains were then found off a dirt road in southern Colorado in 2023, AP reported. Morphew was charged again with first-degree murder and arrested last year, and AP said he has maintained his innocence.

Investigators told AP that Suzanne Morphew’s bone marrow contained what the indictment described as a drug cocktail known as “BAM,” made up of butorphanol, azaperone and medetomidine. AP reported that the indictment said Morphew was the only person in the area, other than wildlife officials, with a prescription for the drugs.

AP also reported that the coroner’s office determined Suzanne Morphew’s cause of death was “homicide by unspecified means” based on intoxication of the three drugs. It said Suzanne Morphew’s remains showed no signs of trauma.

AP said the case began when the 49-year-old mother of two daughters was reported missing on Mother’s Day 2020. Her mountain bike and helmet were initially found in separate spots not far from her home near Salida, Colorado, and investigators suspected the bike was purposefully thrown into a ravine because there were no indications of a crash.

AP reported that a week after her disappearance, Morphew posted a video on Facebook pleading for her safe return, and the case quickly drew attention. AP said this time, Morphew is being prosecuted by a different district attorney for the area where the remains were found—about 40 miles (65 kilometers) south of the Morphews’ home.

Before she disappeared, AP reported, Suzanne Morphew had been treated for follicular lymphoma. Investigators said they found a port with her remains through which she could receive medicine to treat the cancer, along with biking clothes similar to what she was known to wear.

Based on the condition of the remains and clothes, AP reported that a forensic anthropologist theorized the body likely decomposed elsewhere before being moved, “according to the indictment.”